2017-11-19 Luke 23: 50-56 Joy Comes In the Morning

JOY COMES IN THE MORNING (Luke 23:50-56) Date: ____________________ Read Luke 23:50-56 – Things don’t look so good, do they? The most authoritative voice that ever walked on planet earth has been silenced. The great miracles are now a distant memory. Death has ended the greatest life ever lived. And God seems absolutely absent. Psa 30:5b: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” God is not absent. Even the miracles continue -- only now behind the scenes -- miracles of providence. Behind the curtains, but visible to those who will see. God still reigns. What’s providence? God ruling thru everyday events. Providence divine intervention thru human decisions. So, while it appears Jesus is dead and gone, He has actually rejoined the Father in heaven, directing events from behind the scenes to a dramatic climax that reverberates to this day. Einstein said, “There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is to live as though nothing is a miracle. The other is to live as though everything is a miracle.” That’s providence – every human endeavor shaped by God for His greater purpose. Jesus’ burial is a prime example. I. The Prophetic Requirement As Jesus commends His spirit to the Father, there is a problem -- no burial plans. The warp speed with which He has gone from presumptive triumphant Messiah to crucified criminal is mind-boggling. No one’s thought of burial. The Romans usually wouldn’t release a criminal. Jewish leaders would have dictated that a criminal crucified at their insistence be consigned to a common pit in the Valley of Hinnom. All of that presented a problem for two reasons. First, if Jesus were really Messiah, His death among criminals was okay -prophesied. Isa 53:12c: “because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.” But burial was another matter. Isa 53:9: “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death.” The grave of a rich man? How will that happen? And if any prophecy fails, the jig is up. If God “never lies” (Titus 1:2), one failed prophecy brings the whole of Christianity down. One failure, and it’s all over. That’s problem number 1. The second problem is while no one knows it yet, a resurrection is coming. It will be the lynchpin for the whole gospel message. No death; no atonement. But no resurrection; no eternal life. I Cor 15:17: “And if Christ has not been 1 raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” No resurrection, no hope of redemption. But if Jesus is buried in a common grave – or privately, who is going to believe a resurrection story. There would be no way to verify resurrection from any kind of common or private burial. Even if a resurrection happened, it would be unverifiable. And that’s a problem – problem number 2. Historically verifiable theological truth has always been uniquely at the core of the Christian faith. Prof. Thomas Arnold, author of the 3-volume History of Rome and the chair of modern history at Oxford, states the importance of this: I have for many years studied the histories of other times, to weigh the evidence, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, than the great sign which God has given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.” He could never have made that statement without a proper burial of Jesus. The church would never have been born at all without a verifiably empty tomb! So as Jesus breathed His last there was a problem – no plans for a prophetic burial. II. The Providential Response So, God’s answer? A miraculous intervention through everyday events and people. Into the limelight steps Joseph, from Arimathea – a most interesting man, with a secret sidekick! What do we know of Joseph? He’s rich. Mt 27:57: “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph.” So a rich man is needed and out of the blue – God sends a rich man! Providence! Better yet, he’s a rich man with a grave site. Mt 27:60: Joseph had “his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock.” Perhaps he’s getting older, but for whatever reason, he’s got a ready-made tomb. Providence! But it gets even better. Jn 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.” Out of the blue, here’s Joseph, a rich man, with a gravesite already cut out, never occupied, in the same garden where Jesus was crucified. Providence! But it gets better yet! Lu 23:50b: “He was a member of the council.” But isn’t that a problem? It means Joseph’s a member of the Sanhedrin – the Jewish Supreme Court which tried Jesus, and insisted the Romans execute Him in a unanimous decision: Mark 14:64: “And they all condemned him as deserving death.” So why would Joseph help? Providence again! V. 51: Joseph: “had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.” So the council unanimously condemned Jesus to death – but Joseph didn’t concur – apparently was not there, so didn’t vote. 2 But just bc he didn’t agree doesn’t mean he will help, right? But watch! V. 50c, he was “a good and righteous man.” “Good” refers to his innate sense of fairness and kindness – a good guy. But righteous is something else. When the Bible speaks of people being righteous, it’s never their own doing! God defines righteousness as an imputed or credited characteristic of a believer. This is made clear as early as Gen 15:6 when God says of Abraham: “And he believed the LORD, and he counted [credited] it to him as righteousness.” Abe’s righteousness didn’t come from him; it was credited to him by faith. Righteousness is not a quality we merit; not an inward result of our goodness. It’s a gift! Luther called it eustisium alien, an alien righteousness – a foreign righteousness, one that is extra nos – from outside us. It is the righteousness of Christ given to cover my own unrighteousness. Luke hints at this. In Lu 23:47 the centurion calls Jesus “innocent”. Except the word is actually δικαιος – righteous. Then he uses the same word to describe Joseph in v. 50. Both are righteous. But there’s a difference. Jesus is righteous by nature; Joseph is righteous by grace. In calling Joseph righteous, Luke is telling us he’s a believer – a good and righteous man in the Sanhedrin! Providence! But there’s still a problem. Jn 19:38: Joseph “was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews.” Joseph’s an undercover believer! And if he’s keeping his faith a secret before Jesus died, why expose himself afterward?! There’d be no point. It’s over. But -- Providence! Tho Joseph’s hopes are crushed, God moves in his heart to reveal his faith, claim Jesus’ body and bury Him. He even brings his more famous sidekick with him. Jn 19:38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night.” Amazing! God had 2 secret moles inside the Sanhedrin. And now, when they have the most reason to fear, Joseph courageously asks Pilate for Jesus’ body – and He gets it! What’s happened? Providence! God moved him to take a stand just when all seemed lost. God knew what Joseph and Nic didn’t. All was not lost. Victory was just around the corner, and they were about to play a critical role. Aren’t you glad God uses flawed instruments? Aren’t you glad even a fearful faith can be a genuine faith? God doesn’t want us to live in the closet. But when we see how the disciples ran when the chips were down – how Peter denied his Lord out of fear, how Joseph and Nicodemus lived lives of covert 3 faith for a time, doesn’t it give us hope? We can’t live in undercover forever, Beloved. Paul says in II Cor 13:5: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.” How can we do that? Jesus gives the greatest answer of all in Mt 10:33: “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Is that the Word that got to Joseph? We don’t know, but somehow God prompted him to take his stand when the odds were all against him, and here he came to claim and bury the body of the Lord. God uses imperfect people. We don’t need all the answers. Flaws must not stop us. God uses imperfect people. Like the help-wanted ad in the Miami, OK News-Record: “Bartender-Waitress. We need honest, sober, reliable help. Would settle for any two of the 3.” Like God -- not looking for perfect; looking for available. Not flawless, but genuine. II Cor 12:9? “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Our weakness can be God’s showcase, He uses flawed but growing people. That’s no excuse for not growing. But we won’t make perfection in this life. So, don’t let flaws or past failure stop you. Get in the game, even if it looks hopeless. Have faith! There’s a story about a meeting of 2 of God’s choice servants. D. L. Moody was preaching in London and wanted to meet his hero, Spurgeon. He found the house and knocked on the door in great anticipation. Spurgeon answered – complete with the large black cigar he often smoked! Taken aback, Moody asked, “How can a servant of the Lord and smoke that cigar?” Spurgeon poked his hand into Moody’s ample midsection and asked, “And why are you so fat?” Listen, God uses us, flaws and all. Move out and you will find like Joseph and Nicodemus, faith exercised becomes faith growing. God used their anxious faith to fulfill His own Word and get Jesus buried. III. The Preparatory Reaction “55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.” Throwaway info? No -- providence – preparing the greatest discovery in history. Background: Jesus is on the cross until 3:00 on Friday afternoon. Sabbath begins at 6:00. Jews start new days started at 6:00, not at midnight. Joseph and Nic had 2-3 hours to claim Jesus body, prepare and bury it. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.” Jn 19:39b tells us Nicodemus brought “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight”, an amount fit for a king wrapped in a linen shroud around Jesus. 4 But there was no time to anoint the body and add other spices. The body had to be in the tomb prior to 6:00. So according to Mt 27:61 and Mark 15:47, at least two of of the women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, mother of Jas the Less and Joses, followed to see exactly where the tomb was. It’s a critical point because Mark 16:1 informs us these two women went to buy additional spices when the Sabbath was over – after 6:00 on Saturday. Then next morning, while it was still dark, at least these two and others, came to finish the burial process. But they had a concern. Mark 16:3: “And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” They knew the tomb, the seal and the difficulty of the stone. What they found, of course, was the most stupendous discovery in history. They found the stone already rolled away; they found an empty tomb; and they found a living Lord. Now think about the providence involved in that. Had they not been rushed on Friday night, burial preparation would have been complete. But they were not. Had these women not determined to finish the job, who’d have come on Sunday morning? The disciples certainly weren’t coming, and neither would anyone else. There’d have been no reason. Without all these details occurring just as they did, one of the great evidences for the truth of Jesus’ resurrection would have been lost. What evidence is that? The fact that women were the first to find the empty tomb. Why is that important? Because women were considered unreliable as witnesses in that culture. They were not even allowed to give testimony in court. Luke 24:11 tells us that when the women came with their story, even to the disciples, “these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” So, if you were making all of this up, as some claim happened, you would never put women at the center of the discovery. Yet all 4 gospels give the women center stage for this event when writing about it later. Why? Because that’s the way it really happened. Bc it’s true! It really happened. But even the women’s preparation of further spices for anointing the Lord’s body was part of God’s providence -- preparing irrefutable evidence of the greatest event in human history for those who would believe. Conc – We serve a great God, Beloved. He’s either active in every detail of our lives, or He is not on the throne at all. Eph 1:11 assures us “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” That doesn’t always guarantee a great result humanly speaking. When OT 5 Joseph was sold into Egyptian slavery by his own brothers, it probably didn’t feel like God’s providence. Later when he was thrown into prison for doing the right thing and rejecting the illicit advances of his master’s wife, it probably didn’t feel like God’s providence. And when the cupbearer whom he helped left him to rot in prison, it probably didn’t feel like God’s providence. But remember what he later told his brothers about their evil intentions? Gen 50:20: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” God always means it for good. Trust Him. God’s knows what He’s about. And the miracles of providence are everywhere, every day. Joseph Bayly and his wife lost a child to leukemia at age 5 – one of 3 children they lost before the age of 18. Someone asked him shortly afterward how he would feel if a cure for leukemia were suddenly found. He replied, “I am convinced that God decides the issues of life and death. I knew a doctor once who administered a several-times-lethal dose of morphine to a severely damaged infant and the infant did not die. I think God did not want it to die. If a cure for leukemia were found, I’d be thankful, but would be irrelevant to the death of my son. God determined to take him to His home at the age of five; the means was incidental.” Providence doesn’t always guarantee a good human result! One lives who should not; another dies whom we want to live. But providence guarantees that ultimate good will always result; God’s will cannot be thwarted. Resurrection is just around the corner – if not in this life, then in the next. Wm. Cowper said it like this after unsuccessfully trying to take his own life 3 different times: “God moves in a mysterious way, / His wonders to perform: / He plants His footsteps in the sea, / And rides upon the storm.” I don’t know what your challenge is today. But if the Savior seems absent, hang on. Trust Him alone. You’ll find what Joseph and these women found: Psa 30:5b: Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Providence guarantees it. Let’s pray. 6